Kansas GOP steps into dispute in US Senate race

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman has been endorsed by a group of former moderate Republicans in the Kansas Legislature who are unhappy with the state GOP's conservative leanings.

The Kansas Republican Party has stepped into a dispute over whether U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is eligible to run for re-election and suggested to a state board that it probably doesn’t have the authority to settle the issue.

Three-term incumbent Roberts faces a claim that he’s not truly a Kansas resident and should be barred from the state’s Aug. 5 Republican primary ballot. State GOP General Counsel Clay Barker sent the party’s legal analysis Saturday to State Objections Board members.